In the news today and from the weekend…
Coal:
- Bloomberg and E&E Daily report Rep. John Yarmuth is again introducing a bill to stop new or expanded mountaintop removal coal mining until the Department of Health and Human Services studies its impact on human health. The hearing will be held tomorrow.
- WTVQ reports Quest Energy is opening two coal mines in Pike County, Kentucky.
- Utility Dive reports Indiana has advanced a bill that would pause utility procurement of new generation resources in a bid to save coal power plants.
- Argus reports West Virginia coal producers are being hurt by limited access to export terminals.
- E&E Climatewire and NPR report the Navajo Nation has a long history with coal but is now moving away from it as its last coal power plants are on the verge of closing.
- WRAL reports Arizona’s largest electricity utility plans to test whether a coal-fired plant can instead be fueled by wood chips.
- The Casper Star Tribune reports Wyoming coal is likely declining faster than had been expected.
- The Hill carries an op-ed stating protecting coal or nuclear plants with further subsidies will generate no public benefit and should be abandoned.
Carbon Technology:
- PoliticoPro and The Hill report a bipartisan group of senators asked the Appropriations Committee to include the “highest possible levels” of funding for carbon capture, utilization and storage technologies.
- The Washington Post reports three major fossil fuel firms have invested in a startup that’s developing technology to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Minerals:
- The Washington Post and Reuters report U.S. officials will meet with auto and lithium mining executives next month as the government works toward a national electric vehicle supply chain strategy.
- PoliticoPro reports a bipartisan group of senators re-introduced the “Rare Earth Element Advanced Coal Technologies Act” to allow for the development of technology capable of extracting rare earth elements from coal and coal byproducts.
- High Country News reports increasing demand for copper used in electric vehicle batteries is driving a mining resurgence in Nevada, including through foreign investors such as Russia.
EPA:
- PoliticoPro reports the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has again given the Trump administration more time to finish repealing and replacing the Clean Power Plan; the EPA will have well into the summer to produce a rule.
Mining:
- The Times Leader reports a Pennsylvania reclamation project to convert former coal mining sites into warehouses.
World News: